Race #1 of the Season: Goldy's Run 5K

This is a race we knew would be going on while we were in Minnesota for the Frozen Four. Kris and Mark were planning on doing the 10-miler and while we knew we were in no way up for that (due to being sick for freaking forever), we figured we could probably b.s. our way through the 5K.

Of course, it being the Frozen Four, I had a crapton of stuff going on that weekend ... including the INCH party on Friday night ... basically an industry party where all us college hockey journalists and other members of the media (and a few coaches and the like) get together in an informal atmosphere and drink for free.

Since this was the last Frozen Four I was going to be working ... ever ... I very well couldn't not drink with my coworkers and peers, could I? And since Brandon was there, the only polite thing for him to do would be to drink as well. However, since we had the race nagging us in the back of our minds, we didn't drink TOO much and got out of the bar relatively early and back to the hotel around midnight.

Kris and Mark called and woke us up at the way too early hour of 6am. We told ourselves it was going to be a game-day decision and I was all for running. Brandon was unsure the night before, but after waking up that early, he wasn't not running.

So, we got dressed, drove over to the UofM campus, grabbed Bruegger's for breakfast and headed over to the stadium to register. We parked and registered for the 5K. Soon after registering, we ran into Kris and Mark (and a few of their friends) and also learned that our friend Lindsey was running the 10-miler as well.

While waiting for the 5K to start, I quick snapped a few photos.


Kris and Mark waiting for the 10-miler to start.


Mark (red sunglasses; to the right of yellow shirt guy) getting ready to start in his wave.


Kris starting her wave.


Goldy the Gopher right before the start of our race.

At 8:10 (or whatever), we were off. Our race started a bit back from the 10-mile start so we started our watches late, but added on the 26 seconds or whatever on to the time after we finished.

It was a chilly morning, but we were able to keep a steady pace. The race took us around the University of Minnesota campus which for me, Ms. Tourist, was actually really nice as I got to see pretty much the whole thing. The race was also nice and relatively flat (and close to sea level, comparatively) which was nice for us Coloradoans.

We walked a tad through the water stations, but other than that, were able to push ourselves through - surprising, since neither of us had run much in the last month (as evidenced by the march totals i tallied below).

As we entered TCF Bank Stadium for our finish, I pulled away from Brandon to sprint across the line (as is my wont). As a result, I was able to snap a shot of Brandon finishing.


Brandon doing his thing crossing.

As we finished quicker than we thought (sub-30!!!), we had plenty of time to grab food and run to Kris and Mark's car where we stashed our stuff (they parked closer than we did) and to grab their jackets and stuff too before heading back into the stadium.


The stadium.

From a post of Kris and Mark's prior to the race, we had a general idea of when they'd be crossing the finish line. So, we positioned ourselves right by the finish line for prime viewing.


Mark crossing with a PR!


Kris crossing the second batch of timing mats with a PR and, as we found out later, a 3rd place AG finish!

Sooner than we expected, Lindsey also crossed with an AWESOME time though I regretfully don't have any pictures of it. Still, yay Lindsey!

After both Kris and Mark had time to cool off and stretch out a bit (and meet up with some of the 1490743240 people they knew running), we took a few more pictures.


The four of us.


The speedy couple.


Kris and Mark with a friend of theirs (whose name i unfortunately forgot).

From the stadium, we went to Caribou to talk and hang out with them and a friend of theirs, Gilby, before going to hang out with Brandon's old roommate Tim for a bit before heading to the FF final.

Race Thoughts:
I have no stats for this race since unfortunately, the 5K wasn't officially timed - only the 10-mile. So, the times you'll see to the right on the sidebar are from our watches (with the 26 additional seconds from the official start to the timing mats) added on.

Still, it was ultimately nice to know that our fitness level ... despite being sick and inactive for SO LONG ... was enough for us to b.s. our way through a 5K with a time that we're (or at least i'm) not usually able to get until later season.